Appreciation from a cyclist

Mr. Anderson

I just want to say that I appreciated your responses to the questionnaire submitted by the SFBC for the endorsement vote. Yes, I am a member of the SFBC, I like bikes, and I'm probably a fanatic. That said, I will always appreciate someone who doesn't play to the crowd just because it's the thing to do. SF isn't solely comprised of a bunch of hippie liberals who ride bikes as seems to be the trend in thinking (being transcontinental, I often have this discussion with friends elsewhere). Thank God there are people who actually have their own opinions. In a Utopian world, perhaps all would be safe, and bicyclists and motorists could coexist harmoniously...till then, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Again, thank you for being you.

Asian Pacific Democratic Club

Asian Pacific Democratic Club

Candidate Questionnaire November 2008 Election

Candidate Name: Rob Anderson
Phone:

Email: rmajora@comcast.com

Position: Supervisor District 5

Are you a registered Democrat?

Yes

If no, do not proceed any further with the questionnaire.

If yes, for how long?

About four years

Campaign Manager Name and Phone:

Projected campaign budget:

How much have you raised?

Nothing

Why are you running for this office? What experience do you bring to the table? Which of these are unique from the other candidates; or, why would we consider you over other qualified candidates?
My District 5 opponent, Ross Mirkarimi, represents everything wrong with SF progressivism: He’s aggressively pro-development (Rincon Hill, the Market/Octavia Plan, UC/Evans plan on lower Haight Street); he’s eager to allow the SF Bicycle Coalition to redesign city streets on behalf of a small minority of cyclists (he voted to make the Bicycle Plan part of the General Plan without any environmental review); he supports Critical Mass, a monthly demo that deliberately screws up city traffic to make it difficult for working people to get home; he supports the creeping nannyism of city government, with intrusive ordinances on food, smoking, and other private matters. And, like virtually all city progressives, Mirkarimi has shown little interest in the city’s chronic homeless problem, even though Mayor Newsom has instituted a number of humane and effective programs that will help the city deal with the problem for years to come.

Have you ever voted for or endorsed a non-Democrat in any election? Who and When?
I’ve never supported/voted for a Republican, but I used to support/vote for Peace and Freedom and Green Party candidates. I saw the light after 9/11 and am now a Democrat and will only support/vote for Democrats, not the anti-American left.

Provide information on Asian candidates for public office whom you have supported in the past and during this election cycle. (Please don’t go back further than 8 years.)
I don’t support candidates based on ethnic background, gender, or sexual orientation. I only consider a candidate’s politics and policy positions.

City College is going through a drawn-out process on the Chinatown Campus. Please provide information on how you supported the Asian community during this process.
I have no intention of supporting any community based on ethnicity. I oppose City College’s highrise campus in Chinatown, just as I oppose the four, 40-story highrises at Market/Van Ness in the Market/Octavia Plan. I also oppose the highrise luxury condos on Rincon Hill. I oppose all highrise development in San Francisco. And why, by the way, is the existence of a Chinatown in San Francisco a good thing? Assimilation is the American ideal, not maintaining ghetto-like neighborhoods based on ethnicity.

What do you think are the top 3 most important issues facing San Francisco?
1. The aggressive push to overdevelop the city---including highrises---supported by the mayor, the “progressive” Board of Supervisors, and the Planning Dept.

2. Homelessness, an issue that Mayor Newsom has been good on, with Care Not Cash, Homeward Bound, Project Homeless Connect, and an emphasis on supportive housing. City progressives have been very unhelpful on homelessness; they’ve been in a sulk ever since Newsom used the issue to become mayor, even though it was their political negligence that left the issue unaddressed for years and created the opening for Gavin Newsom.

3. The city’s increasing move toward the anti-car policies of the SF Bicycle Coalition. The city continues to make it as expensive and difficult as possible to drive in SF, with high parking meter rates, its opposition to providing adequate parking in new housing developments, its increasingly punitive parking fines, and its support for redesigning city streets on behalf of the 2% of city residents who commute by bicycle. The city’s economy depends on the free flow of motor vehicles on city streets, since all of our goods are brought in by truck; 15 million tourists visit our city every year (tourism is our largest industry); there are 465,150 registered motor vehicles in the city, and our Muni system has 1000 vehicles on our streets. If you make it hard for cars to move and park in the city, you damage local businesses and the economy, and make it harder for both Muni and emergency vehicles to move on our streets.

What is your position on set-asides in the City budget?
In general I disapprove of set-asides.

The Asian community is one third the population of San Francisco, yet we are vastly underrepresented on the Board of Supervisors. We have yet to elect a Mayor who happens to be Asian. According to census figures, the Asian population will be declining soon. As an elected official, what steps would you take to prevent Asian flight to the suburbs?
I think it’s a mistake to support anyone based on ethnic background, gender, or sexual orientation. John McCain’s choice of a woman as his nominee for Vice President is a good example of the fallacy of identity politics. Would his choosing a right-wing woman of Asian ethnicity have made it a better choice? I don’t believe it. Only a candidate’s politics should be considered and nothing else.

Who are your main supporters and endorsement from public officials?
No endorsements

San Francisco Issues: (Please answer yes, no or no position. Include a brief explanation only if necessary).

Proposition B (establishing affordable housing fund through budgetary set-aside)
No

Proposition C (prohibiting City employees from serving on Charter boards and commissions)
Yes

Proposition H (empowering BOS to issue revenue bonds to pay for utility facilities; setting renewable energy deadlines without higher agency oversight)
No

Proposition K (changing enforcement of laws to decriminalize prostitution)
No

Proposition L (funding the Community Justice Center)
Yes

Proposition V (policy against terminating JROTC programs in public high schools)

Yes

Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?
I am not a San Francisco progressive. San Francisco is essentially a one-party town, with identity politics and a mindless, meddlesome progressivism dominating our political dialogue.